Eddie Lewis remembers his first look at the inside of Estadio Azteca and being amazed at the size of the field. Cobi Jones recalls U.S. flags and effigies of U.S. players being burned in the stands, but many of those same fans later cheering for the USA in a memorable 0-0 tie in 1997. Jovan Kirovski cringed when he recalled playing there.
The U.S. men's national team faces Mexico on Wednesday in a crucial World Cup qualifier in Mexico City, and Galaxy players and coaches who have been to Estadio Azteca, historically one of the toughest venues in the world, know what the U.S. is up against. Combine the altitude (almost 7,500 feet above sea level) with well over 100,000 derisive fans and smog and it figures to be a difficult day for the USA.
But not impossible. Jones, now a Galaxy assistant coach, was there in 1997 when the U.S. played Mexico to a scoreless tie despite missing four starters (Kasey Keller, Claudio Reyna, Tab Ramos and Earnie Stewart) and playing a man down for the final 58 minutes after defender Jeff Agoos was ejected for elbowing Pavel Pardo.
"One of the longstanding memories I have from that game," Jones said, "is the fact that by the end as we moved the ball around the fans were Ole-ing for us and whistling against the Mexican team.
"And those fans can be pretty brutal."
Lewis remembers his first game there almost 10 years ago, walking onto the pitch even before pregame warmups and being booed by fans in a stadium that already was 75 percent filled.
"I remember thinking, 'This is going to be quite an afternoon,'" he said with a grin.
Lewis also vividly recalls scoring at Azteca in 2005, and the crowd that was so loud and abusive for much of the game "came to a screeching halt."
"That was an eerie feeling," he said. "We didn't wind up winning that game, but having scored in such an historic stadium and in such a tough environment was a great moment.
"They're always great games there. Guys are absolutely shattered after. Some guys are on the floor, having IV bags. It really takes its toll on you."
Chris Klein, a former member of the U.S. national team, said Azteca "absolutely" is the toughest place he's ever played in. It's not only because of 100,000 fans "who don't like you very much," he said, but a constant buzz that sounded like "a million bees." Kirovski, who also played for the U.S., called playing there a "disaster."
But he liked the facility anyway.
"Just in the warmups you get a headache," he said. "You feel it right away, and you have the fans right on top of you with that buzz. I love the stadium, though. Playing there, it's a fantastic atmosphere. Of all the places I've played in that's one of the best ones, but it's a tough one, too.
"But our guys are used to playing in front of tough crowds, so it's not going to be that much of an issue."
Galaxy coach Bruce Arena, who coached the U.S. team in several visits to Mexico City, said he enjoyed Azteca because of its history. He didn't say it was the toughest environment he's coached in -- Costa Rica gets that honor -- but the environmental conditions (altitude, smog, heat) were by far the most difficult.
But that shouldn't stop the U.S. from playing well there Wednesday, Arena and others on the Galaxy said.
"I'm pretty confident they're going to get a positive result there," defender Tony Sanneh said.
"The last thing they want to do is lose to us at home," Galaxy defender Gregg Berhalter, like Sanneh another Azteca veteran, said of the Mexican team. "But we're in a situation where we have nothing to lose. The guys know they can be the first (U.S.) team to beat Mexico in Mexico City.
"I think if they can get a point out of the game it's great," Arena said. "At this point in (World Cup) qualifying it would basically assure the U.S. of qualifying. A win would be fabulous, and it's all over but the crying."
Larry Morgan is a contributor to MLSnet.com
